Thomas Edison (Hero or Zero)

I grew up learning in school, as many of you did as well, that Thomas Edison was a great inventor and a hero to be admired by all men. Well, as I learned this weekend, I may have been a bit misled. I watched a documentary on the History Channel about a man named Nikola Tesla today. I must say, I was completely overwhelmed with the achievements and the brilliant knowledge of natural energy that this man possessed. As it turns out, Nikola Tesla worked for Thomas Edison. He was hired by Thomas Edison to improve on many of the patents that Edison had established. The patent that interested Nikola the most was the idea of DC energy to supply homes and business with electriciy. As you may well know, this was Edisons' crowning achievement and one that would give him a great deal of wealth. Edison had even promised Nikola that if he could find a better, more effecient way to supply electricity, he would give him a $50,000.00 bonus. Well, Nikola did find a more efficient way. He called it AC. Yes, this is the Alternating Current that we still use today. This method would prove to be the most simple, effective way to distribute electricity. He also invented a design for the generators and plants that would produce this electricity. Well, rather than give Nikola his bonus, Edison balked at his ideas and from that moment on, became Nikola's most hated adversary. After being denied his bonus, Nikola immediately quit Edison and went to work digging ditches, trying to raise money to continue his experiments with electricity. As a ditch digger, Nikola drew out , in dirt, a design for the first electromagnetic induction motor. He secured a patent for the invention and quickly went to work building the motors. These are the motors that we all see in our power drills, remote control cars, and even some very nice vibrators. The man was truly a genius. He took the money that he made from this patent and quickly went back to work on the idea of AC. Edison was furious. He failed to see the potential in it or was just too much of and idealistic, self-promoting cocksucker to give anyone else credit for being a creative inventor. Edison would therefore start the AC DC war. He would hook up AC to live animals: from elephants to dogs, he would fry these animals in town square to scare the common man into thinking that AC was unsafe and had the potential to kill anything in its way. He refused to accept the fact that Nikola's way was better. To the point of killing anyone or anything that stood in his way. It is hard for me to admire such a man. I just can't believe that we were never taught about Tesla. He would go on to invent the remote control, radio, wireless communication (a generation before it was truly realized) and hundreds of other useful patents. Do the research. This guy is truly a hero to me. As for Edison,